This invention relates generally to fishing line weights and more specifically to a fishing line weight that dissolves in the water following casting of the fishing line. Weights added to a fishing line to allow the fisherman to throw his bait further are well known in the prior art. Lead has been the preferred metal from which fishing weights have been fabricated due to its density and softness. Many lead weights of up to a few ounces are fabricated to be generally spherical in shape but with a wedge-shaped cut that permits them to be easily pinched onto a fishing line using a pair of pliers, due to the relative softness of lead. However, lead weights have proven disadvantageous over the years in several respects. Oftentimes, when a lead weight is employed above the baited hook, the fisherman retrieves a bare hook because the lead weight prevents him from sensing a fish feeding on the bait. Also, when fishing with a tight line and a lead weight located below the baited hook, fish are reluctant to make a substantial strike when they sense the resistance caused by the lead weight on the line. The problem of snags caused by lead weights catching on submerged weeds and other debris as the line is being retrieved is a source of extreme frustration for most fishermen. Not only do such snags cause the loss of expensive lead weights, swivels, hooks, and lures and the attendant time required to re-rig the line, bu many large fish that have been hooked are lost also. In past attempts to eliminate some of these problems with lead weights, other weights have been developed, such as plastic bubbles. These plastic bubbles are designed to be filled to a desired level with water to provide the necessary weight and are adapted to be clipped or otherwise secured to the fishing line. Plastic bubbles are often used for fly fishing in a lake. However, most big fish are smart enough to recognize the unnatural appearance of a fly whose movement follows that of the bubble. In addition, plastic bubbles are subject to most of the other disadvantages that lead weights suffer.
It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide a weight for fishing line that dissolves in the water once the baited fishing line has been cast to the desired location. While such weights provide the same weight advantages as conventional lead weights to permit the fisherman to cast a desired distance, they eliminate the disadvantages stated above that are associated with lead weights. Since the water soluble weights of the present invention dissolve following the cast, they can be positioned near the bait at the end of the fishing line, thereby permitting more accurate casts and reducing the likelihood of the bait being flipped off the hook from the whipping, back-lash effect of the line between a lead sinker and the hook. In the absence of weight on the line following the cast, fish sense no resistance when approaching the bait, and the fisherman's end of the line becomes more sensitive to strikes. Expensive and time-consuming snags are substantially eliminated without a weight on the line at the time of the retrieve since the hook then represents the only possibility for snag, and the absence of weight permits the hook to ride much higher in the water, away from submerged weeds, etc. during the retrieve. When fly fishing in a lake, fish don't see any of the conventional suspicious weights, but see only the fly moving naturally through the water. In addition, the bubbles that are chemically produced during the time that the weights of the present invention are dissolving in the water serve to attract fish to the area of the bait. Environmentally and ecologically, the weights of the present invention are harmless as opposed to toxic lead weights.